Indian Blanket / Firewheel / Gaillardia Pulchella

How Firewheel Got its Color
Firewheel has a rich history in Native American lore. In the book “Legends and Lore of Texas Wildflowers” by Elizabeth Silverthorne, an old Mexican legend tells how the firewheel got its unique color. According to the story, firewheel was once an all-yellow wildflower in the days of the Aztecs. Women would adorn themselves with the bright yellow flowers, and children would play among them in the meadows. Then Cortez came, spreading death and destruction throughout the land. The bright yellow flower felt pity for the deaths of the inhabitants and caught their blood as it fell. To this day the firewheel remains red with the blood of the Aztecs.

Indian Blanket Flower
Firewheel is also known as Indian blanket flower, a name that comes from another legend. In the same book above, the story goes that warriors from a certain tribe went to war, leaving behind their wives and children. Soon after, the chief's wife began weaving a blanket for her husband. In the blanket, she wove threads of red and orange, each pattern a symbol of her prayer to the Great Spirit to keep her husband safe. One day the daughter of the chief was out playing in the woods and got lost. Night soon fell, and the little girl prayed to the Great Spirit to send the blanket to keep her warm during the night. She fell asleep. The next morning she found herself covered in the same red and orange flowers as the blanket. Returning from war, her father found his daughter covered in the beautiful flowers. From that time on, the flowers were called Indian blanket flowers.

FAQ
Do blanket flowers like sun or shade?
They enjoy the full sun. The blanket flower grows in the sun in fast-draining soil as we have on Shackleford Banks and at Cape Lookout Lighthouse on the Crystal Coast, NC.

What are the health benefits of Indian blanket flower?
Native Americans found many medicinal uses for Gaillardia Pulchella including; tea of root for gastroenteritis (diarrhea for stomach “bug”, and chewed powdered root applied topically to skin disorders. Sore nipples of nursing mothers bathed in tea made from the plant. It can also used for sore eyes. The Kiowa tribe believed it brought good luck.

Do Indian blanket flowers come back every year?
Perennial Gaillardia, also known as Blanket Flower, is an easy grower that blooms in prominent color for months. Tough, cold hardy plants, these flowers have been dependably perennial for decades, attracting plentiful pollinators to their nectar-rich blooms every year.

Do Indian blanket flowers spread?
Each bloom will produce numerous seeds that resemble bad-mitten birdies. These seeds will be blown around by the wind, and frequently germinate the following Spring. So, yes – Blanket Flower will spread by self-seeding.

Photo by Captain Mark of H2O Captain Eco-Tour Private Boat Excursions: One of the first Indian Blanket blooms seen in the 2023 year on Shackleford Banks in the Southern Outer Banks of NC while looking for the wild horses.